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Tea Party Ousts 3-Term U.S. Senator Robert Bennett at Utah GOP Convention

shemp

a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
shemp
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Tea party wins victory in Utah as incumbent GOP senator loses bid for nomination

The national "tea party" movement toppled its first incumbent Saturday as long-serving Sen. Robert F. Bennett was defeated at the Utah Republican Party's nominating convention, the most powerful demonstration yet of the anti-Washington tide that is altering the nation's political landscape.

Bennett, seeking a fourth term after 18 years in office, became the first sitting senator to fall in the ideological battle being waged in his party. Although he has long been viewed as a reliable conservative with deep Mormon roots, Republicans rallied behind two other candidates -- neither of whom has held political office -- who will compete for the nomination at a June primary.
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Bennett lost in the second of three ballots under Utah's complicated nominating system. He did so despite an introduction from former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who is enormously popular in Utah. Attendees applauded more vigorously for a video of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), supporting one of Bennett's rivals, than they did for Romney, who won 89 percent of the vote in Utah's 2008 presidential primary.
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According to this report, Bennett can't run as an independent, so it's either a write-in campaign or the end for him:

Bennett could conceivably run a write-in campaign, but he cannot run as an independent since the deadline has passed for him to get his name on the ballot. He said he would support whomever the party nominates.
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Be careful, GOP, you may get what you wish for.
 
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I've never been much of a fan of the Tea Party- but I may change my mind if they can dislodge more entrenched incumbents in Congress. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, Senator Bennett.
 
ravdin said:
I've never been much of a fan of the Tea Party- but I may change my mind if they can dislodge more entrenched incumbents in Congress. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, Senator Bennett.
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I do have to admit that despite my vehement disagreement with the Tea Party's stated positions (so far), the fact that some folks in Congress are getting booted does give me some pleasure.
 
I've heard some people say this could lead to a GOP defeat in Utah, but given how strongly conservative & Republican Utah is (it's harder to find a more "red" state, imo) does that mean the Democrats have any chance to win that Senate seat?

ETA: A much more clear cut case for "splintering" of the GOP can be made in, say, Florida. That's where the Tea Party types really shot themselves in the foot.
 
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GreNME said:
I do have to admit that despite my vehement disagreement with the Tea Party's stated positions (so far), the fact that some folks in Congress are getting booted does give me some pleasure.
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My concern is that they don't replace those booted incumbents with people who are even more right-wing and nutty. The Tea Party label doesn't strike me as one that caters to centrism & compromise.
 
MattusMaximus said:
My concern is that they don't replace those booted incumbents with people who are even more right-wing and nutty. The Tea Party label doesn't strike me as one that caters to centrism & compromise.
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Let's look at Senator Bennett's record, shall we? According to his Wiki page, he:

  • Opposed benefits to the domestic partners of gay federal employees.
  • Voted against minimum wage increases.
  • Voted in favor of a fence on the US/Mexico border.
  • Voted against granting habeas corpus to Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
  • Voted against emergency energy funding to Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.
These are just a few of his positions- pretty far right wing and nutty IMO. I doubt that Utah will produce much worse, and I'm in favor of voting out most of the entrenched politicians in Congress in any case.
 
ravdin said:
Let's look at Senator Bennett's record, shall we? According to his Wiki page, he:

  • Opposed benefits to the domestic partners of gay federal employees.
  • Voted against minimum wage increases.
  • Voted in favor of a fence on the US/Mexico border.
  • Voted against granting habeas corpus to Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
  • Voted against emergency energy funding to Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.
These are just a few of his positions- pretty far right wing and nutty IMO. I doubt that Utah will produce much worse, and I'm in favor of voting out most of the entrenched politicians in Congress in any case.
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Ah, I see your point. It makes sense in the specific case of Utah, but in a general sense I think this would produce more right-wingers than not. However, there was that little hiccup with Scott Brown, who isn't so much a darling of the Tea Party types these days, it seems.
 
MattusMaximus said:
I've heard some people say this could lead to a GOP defeat in Utah, but given how strongly conservative & Republican Utah is (it's harder to find a more "red" state, imo) does that mean the Democrats have any chance to win that Senate seat?
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In a word: no. The mostly-Mormon electorate is going to vote 'R' regardless of the name on the ballot. Claims that may be made to the contrary, this practice is highly encouraged every Sunday in an election cycle.

MattusMaximus said:
My concern is that they don't replace those booted incumbents with people who are even more right-wing and nutty. The Tea Party label doesn't strike me as one that caters to centrism & compromise.
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In a state like Utah, the type of wingnuttery that is the norm in the Tea Party is practically the baseline.
 
GreNME said:
In a word: no. The mostly-Mormon electorate is going to vote 'R' regardless of the name on the ballot. Claims that may be made to the contrary, this practice is highly encouraged every Sunday in an election cycle.
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You're wrong. The Church doesn't have to encourage you to vote Republican. The fact that the herd mentality here is so strong is what causes people to vote Republican. The Church knows this and therefore barely says a word.

In a state like Utah, the type of wingnuttery that is the norm in the Tea Party is practically the baseline.
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Indeed it is.
 
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